Analysis

Introduction:
The story of the Jonestown cult, which existed from the 1950s to the late 1980s, is
practically a household story told in many homes, even today, due to the high volume of
congregants and their horrific ending, being one of the most notorious mass murder-suicides in
American history. Jim Jones was a very charismatic man with no theological training, who
opened up his first church in Indianapolis during the mid 1950s. His congregation, named the
People’s Temple, was racially inclusive, and attracted many followers, very quickly. People’s
Temple became involved in social movements such as the Civil Rights movement, anti-Vietnam
war movement, and the New Left in the 1960s, drawing attention from politicians and the press.
As the congregation grew, more churches were opened in Los Angeles and San Francisco, while
Jim Jones gained more followers, who were persuaded by his inclusivity and displays of
miraculous healing, mind reading, and psychic powers. While Jones took on humanitarian causes
in the community, the treatment of his followers was in stark contrast to this treatment. Members
were frequently humiliated, beaten, blackmailed, coerced, and brainwashed into signing over
their possessions, even homes, to the church, and he further convinced people to give away their
decision-making powers to him. In 1977, when the press began asking too many questions, the
People’s Temple moved many members to a compound in Guyana. When U.S. Congressman Leo
Ryan visited the Guyana colony to investigate rumours of members being held against their will
and reports of psychological and physical abuse; he was attacked twice upon his departure. Ryan
escaped unharmed from the first attack, but was shot and killed in the second attack, along with
three press members, eleven others were wounded during the second attack at the airstrip, from
where they were attempting to flee. After this second attack, Jim Jones released radio orders for
members of the People’s Temple to commit suicide. Within the compound, a fruit drink laced
with cyanide, tranquilizers and sedatives was injected into children and babies mouths, with the
adults drinking the mixture. Jim Jones himself died of a gunshot wound. Fewer than 100
People’s Temple members survived the massacre.

The Jonestown massacre is a fascinating investigative subject that can be analyzed from a
psychological, sociological and anthropological perspective. The influence that Jim Jones was
able to exert over the congregants of the People’s Temple, and how his personality persuaded
many with his charisma and manipulation tactics, can be analyzed from a behavioural
perspective. Jim Jones relied on convergence theory and conformity to ensure the success of his
congregation. The tactics he used to ensure this, reflected his leadership style and revealed
intriguing realities of how society responds to subtle, forced conformity. The congregants of the
People’s Temple believe their congregation to be a subculture of American society, which is
based in an unwavering stance of ethnocentrism, and resulted in one of the most famous
massacres in American history.
Psychology:
To this day, there is no one definitive answer as to how Jim Jones was able to connect so
deeply with his followers, to the extent that they were willing to sign over their free will, rights,
dignity and the steepest price, their life, for the sake of their cause. Jim Jones was known to draw
attention to his congregation and gain followers by preaching about racial inclusion, community
and tolerance. He also held meetings where he would perform miraculous healings, in an effort
to solidify his legitimacy and power to the audience members, and further manipulate them.
These healings were put on display by People’s Temple members in disguises or feigning an
illness. This consistent reinforcement of Jim Jones being some sort of “higher being” and
someone to revere, conditioned his disciples into believing everything he would say and
following his orders without question. From a behavioural lens, Jim Jones was excellent at using
operant conditioning to enforce his beliefs and values onto his followers, using both positive and
negative reinforcement and punishments to solidify his leadership without question. The
congregants began to adapt his views and beliefs regarding issues in the community, and would
attend rallies to support politicians, political parties, and even contribute financially to causes or
leaders that Jim Jones supported. “See, I’m a superman,” (Jones, 1973) Jones claimed in a
sermon presented in the mid-1970s. “That’s not being egotistical, I’m a superperson. I have just a
certain evolution, a paranormal, a precognitive. I have just an extra-dimensional, extraterrestrial,
some evolvement.”1 (Jones, 1973). This form of operant conditioning with negative
reinforcement (“taking away” ailments, illness etc.) created willing, malleable people to which
Jim Jones promised community and utopia,, if they were to follow him. This was a psychological
tactic that many modern psychologists believe he learned from studying mind control techniques
to ensure compliance, conformity and obedience training. This “power” he displayed,
brainwashed and manipulated his followers into making any sacrifice, in the name of obeying
this God-like being and receiving the positive reinforcement of a sense of community and
inclusion that People’s Temple provided.

Sociology:
To maintain his authority and power, Jim Jones also needed to maintain control over
those he had recruited to the People’s Temple. After scandalous reports about his behaviour with
congregants, Jim Jones moved his family, himself and the rest of the People’s Temple to the
colony they had been building in Guyana in 1977. After such reports, it was crucial as an
authoritarian leader, that he maintain the support and unwavering loyalty of his followers.
Moving all members of the People’s Temple together from the different churches across the
country, allowed for convergence theory to take place, as every single person shared a
commonality of their belief in Jim Jones and his promise of a better life in Guyana. Together, in
one place, allowed for these like-minded people to continue to be manipulated and to ensure

1
The Jonestown Institute, “Q1059-3 Transcript,” Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples
Temple, accessed January 16, 2024, http://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=28038.
conformity. To maintain loyalty, Jones had his followers spy on each other, and would blast
constant messages on loudspeakers to give the impression that there was always someone
watching. This had the effect of keeping people in line. In addition to this intimidation tactic,
informational influence was exerted on his followers, causing them to conform to whatever Jones
asked of them, as it had already been established that he was God-like, and was to be followed
and admired. Jim Jones even forced the members to give written statements of their mistakes or
fears, and if they disobeyed him, Jones used public humiliation as a sanction to force people back
into conformity and obedience.

Anthropology:
In every sermon and speech Jim Jones gave to his followers, he professed his socialist
views, and maintained that he was a Communist. Due to many of his followers being of a
religious nature, Jones took excerpts from the Bible to convince them that Communism had a
place within their religion, and it was God’s word. He would cite the New Testament saying,
“‘Distribution was made unto every man according as he had need’” (Acts 4:35)2 (Jones, 1970).
This subtle realignment that he tried to impose on the beliefs of his followers, reinforced the
ethnocentric mindset that Jim Jones had with regard to his congregation. Once his followers had
become comfortable with the idea of the People’s Temple, Communist and Socialist values being
the only true perspective. Jim Jones incorporated negative views about Jesus into his sermons to
trigger the complete severance from a religious perspective within his congregation, to purely
value the dialectic materialism, the Communist bible. When Jones moved his congregation to
Guyana, he reinforced the idea that the values and beliefs of the People’s Temple were superior
to all others, justifying why he isolated his followers from the outside world. His ethnocentric
behaviour was what led to the demise of the congregation and the mass murder-suicide. The
People’s Temple would rather die than conform to the beliefs and values of the outside world, in
a non-Communist society.

Conclusion:
The People’s Temple cult revealed the realities of the effects of unregulated power and
persuasion when presented in a gradual, non-threatening manner. The psychological, sociological
and anthropological lessons gleaned from the horrors of individual manipulation, horrifying
group conformity tactics and convoluted ethnocentric beliefs, serve as warnings and lessons to us
all. The conditioning and mind control techniques Jim Jones used to manipulate his followers by
preying on their desire for community and utopia, educates modern society on the dark
consequences of allowing one person to hold unchecked power and authority. The combination
of this unchecked power, along with his charisma, was powerful enough to convince people to be
completely devout to a man as deranged as Jim Jones. The result of the convergence theory lived

2
King James Bible.
out within the cult, causing dangerous repercussions to the members, as this shared mentality of
worshiping Jim Jones as a God-like figure, made them susceptible to the conformity tactics that
an authoritarian leader like Jones used to ensure complete obedience. The ethnocentric views and
beliefs of the People’s Temple allowed for the isolation and segregation from the rest of the
world, contributing to the forced conformity of the followers and their belief that their
congregation was of a higher moral and cultural compass than the rest of the world. As society
continues to grapple with understanding and preventing tragedies like this, born from cults and
their figureheads, from occurring again, the examination of Jonestown remains a crucial
exploration into what psychologists, sociologists, and anthropologists can glean from the darkest
shadows of human behavior.
 References

Abbott, C. (2015). The Reverend Jim Jones and Religious, Political, and Racial Radicalism in

Peoples Temple. Theses and Dissertations. 1037. https://dc.uwm.edu/etd/1037

Britannica, E. (n.d.). Jim Jones. Britannica School.

https://school.eb.com/levels/high/article/Jim-Jones/43937

​Byrne, J. P. (2022). Jonestown and the People’s Temple. Salem Press Encyclopedia.

https://research.ebsco.com/c/3emjwg/viewer/html/hfxgmatkwf

​Dittmann, M. (2004). Lessons from Jonestown. Monitor on Psychology, 34(10).

https://www.apa.org/monitor/nov03/jonestown

Hall, J. R. (2004). Jonestown in the Twenty-First Century. Society, 41(2), 9–11.

https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02712698

Moore, R. (2011). The Stigmatized Deaths in Jonestown: Finding a Locus for Grief. Death

Studies, 35(1), 42–58. https://doi.org/10.1080/07481181003772465

(2019). Q1059-3 Summary – Alternative Considerations of Jonestown & Peoples Temple. The

Jonestown Institute. Sdsu.edu. https://jonestown.sdsu.edu/?page_id=28038

 References (Photographs)

Britannica, E. (n.d.). Jim Jones [image]. Britannica School. Retrieved January 9, 2024, from

https://school.eb.com/levels/high/assembly/view/55595

Getty Images. (1978). [Piles of syringes and cyanide laced fruit drinks] [Photograph]. Bettmann

Archive. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from

https://www.thoughtco.com/the-jonestown-massacre-1779385

Hume Kennerly, D/Getty Images. (1978). [Aerial photograph of many bodies in Jonestown.]

[Photograph]. History. Retrieved January 16, 2024, from

https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mass-suicide-at-jonestown

James, W. (1971) [Jones Jr. and other People’s Temple members volunteering at a rally]

[Photograph]. American Experience. Retrieved January 15, 2024, from

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/jonestown-who-was-jim-jones/

Shannon, D. (2016). Former People’s Temple Full Gospel Church [Photograph]. Flickr.

Retrieved January 9, 2024, from

https://www.flickr.com/photos/73105116@N00/26689498692/in/photostream/

(1974). [Jim Jones staging a miraculous healing to reinforce his power and influence]

[Photograph]. California Historical Society Digital Library. Retrieved January 10, 2024,

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(1977). People in fields. [Photograph] Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS

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(1978). Jonestown massacre [Photograph]. Britannica School. Retrieved January 17, 2024, from

https://school.eb.com/levels/high/assembly/view/55595

(1978). Congressman Ryan Arrives in Guyana. [Photograph] The Jonestown Institute. Retrieved

January 17, 2024, from

https://www.newsweek.com/im-bad-guy-congressman-ryan-arrives-guyana-1649100

(1973). [Temple member Venus Harris holds up a sign in support of Rev. Jim Jones.]

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(1975) Jim Jones with Jonestown workers. [Photograph] Peoples Temple Publications

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(1974). [Jim Jones standing with a group behind San Francisco mayor George Moscone]

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(1975). People with trucks. [Photograph]. Peoples Temple Publications Department Records, MS

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(1978). Aerial view of Jonestown. [Photograph]. Peoples Temple Publications Department

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(1973). [Jim Jones speaking and pointing during a sermon] [Photograph]. Peoples Temple

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(1977) March in Los Angeles for Farr [Photograph]. Peoples Temple Publications Department

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 IAPS Course Culminating Research
Rough Photos Brainstorm
Photo 1:
- Introduce Jim Jones
- Young churchgoer
- charismatic church man

Photo 2:
- The first church that Jim Jones opened up in Indianapolis

Photo 3:
- Believed to have psychic powers → miraculous healing + fortune telling
- Used this to manipulate his followers into thinking he was “God-like”

Preaching photo 4:
- Jim Jones speaking in 1972. He captivated followers with his vision of a coming social
revolution, and convinced them to give up their decision-making powers to him.

Jonestown in the 21st Century Article (AP peer reviewed):

- The murders and suicide were the product of an escalating struggle between the
leadership of the People’s Temple and their opponents, the Concerned Relatives.
- People’s Temple was a social movement that took place from the 1950s - 1980s during
the Cold War.
- Jim Jones was a “child of the ‘old Left’” who challenged racial segregation with his first
Church, which opened up in Indiana.
- When it was moved to California he and his followers participated in the civil rights
movement, anti-Vietnam war movement, and New Left in the 1960s.
- It was a communal organization.
- Did not favour women’s rights.
- Jonestown became a symbol that could be used to demean other communal organizations,
- The People’s Temple borrowed and adapted from other cultural practices,
- A sign in the pavilion of Jonestown, quoting George Santayana, read, “Those who do
not remember the past, are condemned to repeat it.”
- It was a “utopian” organization.
- Attracted people of good will, all different types of people, people who put their
faith into one building to hope it would be a better world, they were dedicated to
humanity and having Jonestown be a “harbinger of a world after modernity”

Jonestown and the People’s Temple article (AP peer reviewed):

- In 1969 approx 100 member of the People’s Temple Full Gospel Church, built a new
church in Happy Acres, in Redwood Valley, California
- This congregation was affiliated with the Disciples of Christ Church.
- Many black people were followers, as Jim Jones believed in racial integration.
- Dedicated to the pursuit of social justice (Marxist).
- Jim Jones called his mission “apostolic socialism”.
- In 1970 and 1972, Jones opened more churches in San Francisco and Los Angeles, in
black communities.
- Cult-like quality of the congregation to Jones, & armed guards at services rang alarm
bells and drew criticisms (from public & members).
- As a result, members were sent to Guyana in 1974 to establish a new colony.
- By 1975, 50 ppl occupied this colony.
- More migration to Guyana occurred → 1000 members inhabited this colony
- ¾ were black.
- Members represented 39 states.
- Jim Jones moved to the colony in July of 1977, after scandalous reports abt his behaviour
regarding the people within his church.
- Relatives and friends of congregants of the People’s Temple started organizing an
opposing church called “Concerned Relatives”.
- Defectors from the church provided American authorities information about the nefarious
activities occurring within the church.
- Concerned Relatives convinced Congressman Leo Ryan to go investigate in 1978
- He was attacked by the colony twice.
- Escaped, unharmed from the first attack, but was shot and killed along with three press
members, with 11 others wounded during the second attack at the airstrip/
- Before he was killed, Jim Jones released radio orders for members of the People’s
Temple to commit suicide.
- A fruit drink laced with cyanide, tranquilizers and sedatives was injected into children
and babies mouths, with the adults drinking the mixture.
- Jim Jones himself died of a gunshot wound.
- Fewer than 100 People’s Temple members survived the massacre (about 85).
- Total death count including non cult members = 922.